Nero

Nero is the main character of the fourth installment of the Devil May Cry franchise. Little about him is known, but apparently, he was raised in the city of Fortuna as an orphan and taken in by Kyrie and Credo since childhood and grew into young adulthood together. Nero's actual origin still remains unknown but Sanctus makes multiple references to Nero being "a descendant with Sparda's blood". Nero is a sardonic character and doesn't like to be messed around with. He wields the Blue Rose, Red Queen, and Devil Bringer. Nero is a Holy Knight in the Order of the Sword, a religious order that worships Sparda and fights to protect the world from demons. He performs "special jobs" for the Order. Nero's rebellious nature leads to the Order preferring for him to work alone, and Nero actually prefers to act as a lone wolf. Kyrie is the childhood friend of Nero as well as a singer during the Order's ceremonies. He and Kyrie both fall in love some point prior to the beginning of the game and this love plays a major part during the events of Devil May Cry 4.

Plot
At the game's beginning, Nero manages to barely make it to one of Kyrie's performances on time after dealing with a group of demons. He leaves her a gift and then prepares to leave, having grown tired of listening to Sanctus's preaching. Just before he can though, Dante bursts in through the ceiling during a prayer and proceeds to kill Sanctus, the leader of the Order. Credo, head of the Order's knights, and brother of Kyrie, along with a battalion of knights confront Dante, but are completely outmatched. Nero manages to step in just in time, sporting his iconic two-legged kick into Dante's face, just before the Devil Hunter can approach Kyrie and Credo. The two fight, and again, Dante comes out on top, shrugging off everything Nero throws at him. He comments that they're the same, and points out to Nero that the knights Dante had slain were in fact demons. Confused, Nero watches as Dante flees the scene and so starts his quest to seek him out.

Appearance


Nero wears a long blue coat with the Order of the Sword's insignia sewn into the right shoulder. He also wears a red zip-up hoodie/vest underneath this coat, and what appears to be a black cotton shirt beneath that. Nero wears two rings on his human hand: one on his index finger that has the emblem of the Order of the Sword on its face, and another on his ring finger which has a rose design on its face, identical to the designs on his belt buckle, coat clasp, and coat buttons. He has white hair and blue eyes, similar to Dante and Vergil.

Devil May Cry 4 emphasizes that Nero or his Devil Bringer have some sort of connection with Vergil or Sparda, due to the connection he has with the Yamato and his alleged place in the Sparda bloodline. However, the details of this have yet to be confirmed by Capcom.

Gameplay


Nero has the ability to use Devil Bringer, his right arm resembling that of a devil's, a unique ability for him that allows him to snatch far away enemies and perform supernatural feats of strength. Unfortunately he does not gain new weapons apart from Yamato. Nero's taunts in a similar sarcastic fashion to Dante; one taunt involves him bowing mockingly and asking, "Shall we dance?", while another has him aiming the Blue Rose at his enemies and saying "Bang!" instead of shooting.

Nero seems to share the demonic ability of being able to instantly heal wounds that would seem fatal to normal humans. This is most explicitly shown in Mission 6 when Nero is impaled by a Bianco Angelo and a Gladius. When the two weapons are removed, he is able to stand the wound, though worn down, and after his Devil Trigger deactivates it has healed completely.

Nero does seem to be able to fight enemies on a standard level without Red Queen, Blue Rose, and the Devil Bringer. One of his attacks has him do a drop kick on an enemy if he's running fast enough, and the Select button is pressed. Nero also demonstrated this in the Prologue of Mission 1 as he was able to take down a large number of Scarecrows without any of his weapons by his side.

Nero does possess a Devil Trigger, in which a blue, spectral demon resembling Vergil manifests behind him wielding the Yamato. Nero himself acquires a blue aura, burning red eyes, and a deeper, echoing voice. Some of Nero's techniques with the Yamato, usable only in Devil Trigger, allow him to wield the sword itself. It is unknown if the Nero's Devil Trigger will continue to manifest as a detached specter, or will become more similar to other characters' Devil Triggers and allow him to physically become the demon itself.

Trivia

 * The character is voiced and motion captured by Johnny Yong Bosch who played the role of Adam Park, the second Black Ranger in the American adaptation of the Super Sentai franchise, Power Rangers. Similarly, Daniel Southworth who played as Vergil also played the role of a Power Ranger; the Quantom Ranger in Power Rangers Time Force.
 * Nero is Italian for "Black". It is also identical to Nelo Angelo's intended name.


 * It was announced by Kobayashi that the "private female citizen" traveling with Nero mentioned in the manual was actually Kyrie (as announced by Kobayashi).
 * La Vita Nuova, the final scenes name with Nero and Kyrie, is named after a series of poems written by Dante Alighieri about his endless, admiring love for Beatrice.